The team from the school in Cham discussed the question of whether enhancing equal opportunities was the key to a fairer society with Prof. Dr. Dominika Langenmayr (Chair of Economics, esp. Public Finance) and her coworker Lennard Zyska. In the discussion, it was also addressed that social background was still a factor that influenced the level of education and income. This is why the school students developed a concept named “My2tor” in which pupils at Gymnasien (in the German school system: academic secondary schools qualifying for university) take over the role as tutors for elementary school children who are disadvantaged by their family circumstances. The pupils from Cham were able to convince the jury with their idea and will, together with two teams from Stuttgart and Schwäbisch Hall, present their concept at the nationwide finals of the competition in Hamburg in late September.
Economist Prof. Dr. Simon Wiederhold and his employee Katharina Hartinger worked with their team of pupils from Munich and approached the topic “Tablet or blackboard? Promoting sensible digitalization measures at German schools”. After having analyzed the level of digitalization at schools, they proposed to create new incentives through competition to stimulate the use of digital tools and teaching content.
The team from Kempten that was supported by Prof. Dr. Alexander Danzer (Chair of Microeconomics) and his doctoral student Carsten Feuerbaum, devoted themselves to the topic “What are the parameters for successful education and language training for immigrants?” Their proposal was the conceptualization of a so-called ‘Friendshipping App’ with which they want to match up migrants with Germans depending on their individual profiles in order to enable them to solve tasks together playfully.
“The project ‘YES!’ is an excellent opportunity to transfer our research into society. While researchers are usually active in established channels, this competition has provided a new medium for reaching a young target group and potential future students. At the same time, it gave us the possibility to learn more about current problems and problem solving techniques of the young generation, which is vital for sustainability topics”, summarize Langenmayr, Danzer and Wiederhold.
More detailed information on the Young Economic Summit is available at www.young-economic-summit.org.
